when tony vincent packed his bags in nashville in early 1998 and moved to new york city, his plan was to gain more experience and further his fledgling recording career. instead, he found himself leaving the big apple almost as fast as he arrived, hitting the road with the national touring company of "rent", the pulitzer prize-winning broadway musical by fellow new mexico native, jonathan larsen.

in fact, vincents dream of a big-time recording career was to be back-burnered several times over the next few years, as one musical theatre opportunity after another opened up for him.

from the "rent" road tour, he was cast in the broadway production of that same groundbreaking hit musical. a year later, just as vincent began to refocus on his elusive recording career, he was suddenly off to london, the only american to be cast in a new film of andrew lloyd webbers 70s-era hit musical, "jesus christ superstar". the film completed, vincent returned to new york to open the updated 2000 revival of "superstar" on broadway but, this time, literally just days before opening the show, producers suddenly moved vincent from the supporting role of simon the zealot into the lead role of judas iscariot.

the eight-month run of "jcs" on broadway gave vincent the new york exposure he needed, enough to be noticed and signed by sonys epic records. it looked like his dream career as a major-label-recording artist/songwriter would finally be getting off the ground.

to most people, this conflict between doing a record and taking on major theatre engagements would be a fantastic "problem" to have. but, to vincent, this development was simply part of the logical progression of the plan he began to concoct as a young boy singing in churches and schools back home in new mexico.

"ive been singing and playing drums and percussion since i was 7 years old, but i really wanted to learn to write songs," vincent remembers. "in high school, a friend introduced me to samplers and synthesizers essentially, computers that are tools for making music and i immediately became a techno-music geek. i worked long hours after school just to buy my first keyboard."

many of those remaining school days were spent writing and performing his own songs, which in turn led to his decision to pursue a business degree in the music business via a nationally-recognized program at belmont university in nashville.

with a combination of what might be called youthful naivete and artist's intuition, vincent decided to create his own independent record company out of his college dorm room. in almost no time at all, an original song, "love falling down", began to receive considerable hometown radio air play, encouraging vincent to attempt to release the single on a broader level. as more and more radio stations picked up the single, the song hit several national charts. "love falling down" caught the attention of emi's starsong record label in nashville, and a recording contract followed in early 1994.

his first solo album, "tony vincent," co-produced by brent bourgeois (bourgeois-tagg), was released in april of 1995. written and recorded just after vincent's 20th birthday, the album generated four consecutive number-one radio singles ("simple things", "out of my hands", "whole new spin", "must be the season"), and a successful two-year tour ensued.

determined to move in a more personal and less conventional musical direction, vincent next teamed up with veteran l.a. producer dennis matkosky and engineer david leonard (bare naked ladies, leann rimes, prince).

"the most important thing for me on the second record was to have the freedom to experiment, marrying the programmed, synthesized elements that i was used to, with the creative energy of a live band," says vincent. that second album, "one deed," took over a year to write and produce, and reflects vincent's continuing drive to find out who he is as an artist and what he has to say as a songwriter.

"my goal has always been to create songs that are honest and vulnerable, yet connect with the listener in an encouraging way. if i can't bring you deep enough into a song to give you some degree of hope, in spite of life's many challenges, then i'm not doing my job. there's more than enough darkness and despair in the world to last a lifetime. i want to do something positive."

which brings us back to vincents sony-epic record project. almost. in the fall of 01, andrew lloyd webber, with whom he had worked on "superstar" in both london and new york, brought vincent to beijing and shanghai for a special production staged to introduce webbers music to the people of china. that done, it was back to new york to finally start working on the new record. vincent began to spend considerable time collaborating with other writer-producers in los angeles, woodstock, sweden and london.

but then, not surprisingly by now, the theatre beckoned once again: while in london, vincent was asked to audition for brian may, roger taylor and ben elton for the lead part of galileo figuero in the new queen "rock theatrical", "we will rock you", in londons west end (the western european equivalent of broadway). vincent landed the part, moved to london, opened the show in april 02, and continues to play to sold-out audiences 6 nights and a matinee every week at the dominion theatre.

"its like doing a live rock gig every night," says vincent. "i get to sing we will rock you, we are the champions and bohemian rhapsody the three huge queen hits that close the show every performance. the audiences are free to experience a totally unconventional night of theatre a rather innocent and touching love story wrapped in some of the greatest rock/pop songs ever written. this rock theatrical is a new breed of musical theatre. i love it. and being able to work with the original members of queen, to be able to sing those great freddie mercury/ brian may/ roger taylor hits night after night its just beyond belief."

even more unbelievable, says vincent, was the opportunity last summer of performing live with queen (the band) in the garden of buckingham palace during "party at the palace", part of queen elizabeths 50th anniversary jubilee, seen around the world by some 100-million people. and appearing on the same stage with paul mccartney, annie lennox, ozzy osbourne, eric clapton, brian wilson and countless other internationally-known artists. and fronting the "we will rock you" company at "party in the park", closing prince charles annual charity fund-raiser, before a live audience of over 100-thousand people in londons hyde park.

so, such is life for tony vincent: recording artist- actor- songwriter- musician- singer. at least for the foreseeable future.

ohand about that new record for sony/epic? in vincents copious spare time, hes working on it. hes working on it

bio from www.tonyvincent.com